A New Version of Christmas

For the first time in my life I didn’t get to spend either Christmas Eve or Christmas with my family this year. Even having lived for years overseas I still managed to make it back to that small town in Illinois to spend the holiday at home. And there is a genuine sadness and loss at not being with them yesterday.

But this Christmas introduced the new reality of my life. The first reality is that home is no longer Illinois, but Boston. And more specifically, wherever Minhee is. The second is that my occupation no longer allows me to travel over Christmas. As associate pastor I could still sneak away for the holidays but as lead pastor I cannot. And the third is that, given the first two realities, I now enter into that group of misfits who, at Christmas, will still be in a city where we have no family to gather with for Christmas dinner.

And that became very real at our home yesterday. Last night we had about 15 people over for Christmas dinner at our home. And as we feasted on ham, turkey, mashed potatoes, candied yams, butternut squash (loaded w/ delicious garlic), green beans and some yummy chocolate cake for dessert, I truly got a small taste of what heaven would be like.

It seemed that the far corners of the earth were sitting at our table last night, a group of geographical misfits all living in Boston and looking for family at Christmas anywhere we could find it. We did have a couple of locals and a few folks whose families are stateside but just weren’t able to make it back to L.A., San Francisco, or wherever they are from. But others were truly a world away from home. Yumi from Japan, Dae and Maria (w/ daughter Olivia) from Australia, twin sisters Noi and Nuchy from Thailand, and Neil and Katy (w/ daughter Jasmine) from the UK… all geographical misfits.

But as we prayed, and ate, and talked, and opened small gifts, my heart was full. Christmas in Illinois is always a really wonderful time and I am very sad to have missed it. Christmas w/ my mom and dad, brother, grandparents, uncle and cousins is a defining picture of where I come from, and I love it. But Christmas this year was a defining picture of where I am going, and I loved that too. Dinner last night made me long even more for heaven, to gather with the nations of the world, those of us who had lived as resident aliens together on this earth, and to once and for all belong, to fit in, and to be with family forever.